A longtime star of British soap opera “Coronation Street” has vowed to fight charges he raped a 15-year-old girl in 1967.

William Roache said in a statement Thursday he is “deeply horrified” by the charges and “strenuously” denies them.

The 81-year-old actor has played Ken Barlow on the popular show since it was first broadcast in 1960. The soap, set in a fictional working-class district in northwestern England, is among the longest-running programs on British television.

He is charged with raping the girl between April and July of 1967. He is scheduled to appear at Preston Magistrates’ Court on May 14.

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Roache was arrested at his home Wednesday. Broadcaster ITV said Roache wouldn’t appear in “Coronation Street” until his legal case was over.